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Prospecting on Purpose is Forbes meets Saturday Night Live - it’s *the* show for everything prospecting, sales, business, and mindset.
As business grows more complex, the biggest opportunities emerge when we learn beyond our own industries. From hospitality and design to technology and travel, this is where professionals come together to exchange ideas, uncover new perspectives, and prospect for business with creativity, authenticity, and intention.
Hosted by Sara Murray, a heart-centric sales champion, each episode helps you raise both your vibes and your game. Sara's playbook is simple - ABAV: Always Be Adding Value. Embrace your authentic self, lean into your unique strengths, and sell the outcome instead of the product or service.
Join Sara each week as she sits down with world-class thought leaders to unpack today's business strategies, mindset shifts, and relationship-driven approaches to growth, giving you practical ideas you can put into action right away.
Connect with Sara: www.saramurray.com IG: @saramurraysales LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/saramurraysales/
Sara Murray - Prospecting on Purpose©:
You're listening to Prospecting on
Purpose, where we discuss all things
prospecting, sales, business, and mindset.
I'm your host, Sarah Murray, a sales
champion who's here to show you that you
can be a shark in business and still lead
with intentionality and authenticity.
Tune in each week as we dive into methods
to connect with clients, communicate
with confidence, and close the deal
Welcome to Prospecting on Purpose.
Today, we're gonna be digging into how
to strengthen self-discipline, which is
something, that almost everyone finds
a challenge with, myself included.
And there are many reasons why this is
an important topic but, in my opinion,
the number one thing in business that
separates the rock stars versus the
people just spinning their wheels, you
know, the doers, are the people who can
execute with intention, and discipline
is a major contributing factor to those
people who can execute intentionally.
So for this episode, we're talking
about ways to build accountability and
discipline into your life and business
so that your goals that you keep
meaning to get done actually get done.
And the best part about what we're gonna
be discussing today is that none of this
requires you to become a different person.
And what I really want you to pull
from this episode is I want you to
borrow proof from the version of
you that already gets things done.
So getting into it, I think one of the
big mindset shifts we have to start with
is the stories we tell ourselves around,
"I'm just not a disciplined person."
And we can fill in the blank here.
"I'm not an organized person.
I am bad at time management," and so on.
And honestly, I've said
that about myself, too.
Sometimes I really feel like I
lack discipline in certain areas.
And so one first thing I want you to
sit with is to challenge yourself if
that's true, and to look for other areas
of your life where it is showing up.
Discipline is not a personality
trait that you have or you don't.
It's a skill we can build, it's a
muscle we can build, and it shows
up unevenly across our lives.
So there are some areas where
you're wildly disciplined and
then other areas where, let's
say, you're a work in progress.
Both things can be true at the same time.
Sharing an example from my real life,
probably something that resonates
with a lot of our listeners, I do
not feel very disciplined when it
comes to exercise and working out.
I know it's important, but it is something
that just easily gets pushed aside.
I am, however, incredibly
disciplined about hitting my
business goals, and I find proof
of that in a lot of different ways.
Obviously, executing numbers,
delivering on deadlines.
One area that I had to work on, actually,
is I chose to stop drinking alcohol, about
19 months ago, and a big reason why was I
just needed more hours in the day to get
work done, and I was traveling a lot, and
I was getting sick when I was traveling.
And if I'm showing up to do a presentation
for a team, I need to be healthy.
I need to be able to, to wake up
early and get work done, work with
my clients in Europe, et cetera.
So alcohol was a variable that
was impacting a lot of those
goals, so I stopped drinking.
And of course, it's been challenging.
I like, I like drinking.
I like going to weddings, and
networking events, and industry
dinners, and sometimes I feel kind
of, lame ordering a mocktail when
the rest of these high-profile people
are sharing a bottle of red wine.
But I made a commitment to myself to
show up as the best version of myself
for my clients and myself, of course.
So that why makes it easier
for me to stay alcohol-free.
So if I can look at that area and
realize, wow, I'm actually really
disciplined in that area, or I've been
a pescatarian/vegetarian for 20 years.
I am very disciplined in
what I put into my body.
So now the question is, can I just
translate that to this other area I'm
trying to work on, this exercise area?
If I can be disciplined in that area, and
that's my hard evidence, then I already
know I'm capable of doing it over here
because I've already done it before.
I don't need to invent
that muscle from scratch.
I already have it.
I just need to point it
towards something new.
And so for this exercise, working out
goal I'm working on, there's a couple of
different ways we can approach it, but for
me, I'm gonna have to look at it as this
activity does support my business goals.
It keeps me healthy.
It manages my stress.
If I'm, if I'm on stage speaking
and I see a picture of myself, I
wanna look, like I fit into my dress.
So, you know, I have to do the
different tasks to get it done, put
it in the calendar, get a coach, in
this case, a personal trainer, which
is what I do in my business objective.
So that's your first move.
Before we get into the tips,
go find your proof points.
Where in your life are
you already disciplined?
Are you the person who shows up
for your friends no matter what?
Or maybe it's how you show up
for your kids, or it's a habit
that you've held for years.
Maybe it's something that you never,
ever miss a client deadline, or you
never forget to, follow up on something.
Whatever it is, that's your evidence, and
that's gonna get you to say, "I've done
this before, so I know I can do it here."
Before we get into running through
our different tips to strengthen this
muscle, I just want to acknowledge
that human beings procrastinate.
It's not a character flaw,
it's just how we're wired, and
nowadays we have a lot going on.
There are so many inputs
coming at us at all times.
It is very reactive, not very proactive,
so many of us tend to do the urgent thing
in front of us versus an important thing
that doesn't necessarily have a deadline
or we have to assign ourselves a deadline.
And a big part of my success in
business has been building in this
external accountability, and so I've
incorporated it into my sales trainings.
So once we do an in-person session,
we do an in-person workshop with
the team, everyone has to commit
to what actions they're taking that
I'm gonna hold them accountable for.
And when we build in that external
accountability, execution happens.
And in almost every single role,
whether you're self-employed, whether
you work for an employer, there's
already some natural accountability
infrastructure that's already built in.
You might have deadlines, or a bid is
due, or your boss needs something by
Thursday, or a client is waiting on you.
But sometimes that existing
structure is not enough, and we
need to build a little bit more.
So we're gonna go through eight
tips on how to build this muscle.
Tip one, very easy.
Create your own hard deadlines.
If something doesn't come with a
deadline, make one up for yourself.
You know, I just walked through how
deadlines already exist in our roles.
The first move is to just
manufacture your own.
And I don't want you to overthink this.
Just pick a realistic date in the future,
give yourself a runway, slap it on the
calendar, tell your boss, tell your
team, tell your client, and that's it.
Just pick your own external deadline.
Then tip two, once it's on your
calendar, work backwards from there.
And this is my favorite thing, and it's
very, it's very simple, but it's not easy.
And so one of the things that's
been successful for me in my
prospecting and business development
efforts is to host events.
Networking events, hotel tours,
virtual webinars, whatever it is.
But the first thing you have to do
to execute an event is pick a date
for the event to happen and put it in
the calendar And then you just work
backwards, reverse engineer everything
that has to happen before that date.
So if I'm hosting an event, I gotta
book the venue, pay the deposit,
create the invite, share it with my
team, invite the attendees, order the
food, prep the demos, structure the
tour groups, whatever that task is.
But these things are like layering
and laddering up on each other.
But then it leads to a great event
and a great return on investment.
So in my experience working with many,
many, many different teams over the
years, a lot of people just talk about
doing the thing and they never do it.
Or they might say they're gonna do
webinar series all year, and then they
execute one, and it took them five months
to do it, and then they talk about it
for the five months leading up to it
and the eight months lead afterwards.
We all know those types of people.
Probably some of us are
those types of people.
That's okay, but that's not going
to put you into a rockstar status.
You have to be someone who
can walk the talk, and the way
we do this is by execution.
So put a date on the calendar for
whatever the task is, what are
the steps you need to do it, and
then start taking those steps.
What happens here is when you
publicly commit to the date, book
the room, put the money down, you
force yourself to do the work.
You can churn things out when
there's a date pulling you forward.
So if you've got this big,
scary goal that keeps drifting,
don't start with the to-do list.
Start with the date,
and then work backwards.
Tip three here, this works for some
people, not for others, but get
yourself an accountability buddy.
This is easy.
It's free.
Pair up with someone who's
chasing similar goals.
Could be a colleague.
It could be another, fellow entrepreneur.
Set a standard check-in every other
week, once a month, 15 or 30 minutes,
and just run through the targets
that you wanna achieve, and then
report back on how you actually did.
I find this great for prospecting in
particular, because prospecting is
something that people either don't
love and/or it's very easy to push
aside when things are coming at you.
But if you tell your accountability buddy,
"I'm gonna reach out to 10 prospects
this week, just two a day, and I'm gonna
check in with you Friday and let you
know I did it," suddenly it's more real.
It's like assigning yourself homework.
You don't wanna show up on Friday
and admit you didn't do the work.
Self-assigned peer pressure
is a good mark of adulthood,
so it's something that works.
Try it.
Find yourself an accountability buddy.
If you wanna level this up,
our tip four is to work with
a coach or work with a mentor.
Some organizations offer
coaches to their people.
Some of you have really great
bosses that do hold accountability
for you, and if yours does, oh,
definitely take them up on it.
But if they don't, I really seriously
consider finding one for yourself.
External accountability is a really
big component to my own success.
I've always worked with a coach, and
because it works, I have implemented it
into my service offerings for my clients.
I need my clients to experience the
success of increased sales, and a huge
component to that success is that I create
the structure and the space to hold them
accountable to executing the program.
So I know this works for me in my
business, which means I'm now gonna
deploy it in the discipline area that I'm
lacking, which is consistent exercise.
So now I have hired a personal trainer.
I will be working out with him two times
a week because I know it works for me.
It's time to extend it over here.
And part of me recording this podcast
is telling you all so that I hold myself
accountable which leads us to tip five:
tie your goal to someone beyond yourself.
Now, what I've learned in my own wiring
is that I don't always show up for me
for the sake of showing up for me, but if
I'm showing up for someone else, that's
gonna help me show up more intentionally.
We keep promises to other people far
better than we keep them to ourselves.
It's really easy to cancel on
yourself, but you will move
mountains to not let a friend or
family member or team member down.
And that's actually the secret
behind my no alcohol commitment
because it's never just a promise
to me, it's a promise to my clients.
So when you've got a goal
that keeps slipping, attach
it to someone beyond yourself.
Ask yourself, who does it
serve when you follow through?
Your family, your team, your clients
who deserve the best version of you.
That helps me take it outside
of myself and motivate myself.
Also, in, in my personal training
example, putting it on the
calendar, working backwards, right?
I'm putting money on the
line, so I wanna show up.
But for me, the reason my personal
training has worked is that if I'm
taking up space on someone's calendar,
and then I cancel or I flake, then I
impact that personal trainer's income.
I, I impact their earning potential
because I held time on their calendar
that somebody else could have booked,
but if I don't show up, I cost that
trainer money, and I would just
never do that to another person.
So that really helps motivate
me, as, as sad as it kind of is.
All right.
Tip number six, make
the decision only once.
Going back to my no drinking
commitment, the reason why it's working
is that I am not exhausting myself
re-deciding my decision at every
event or client dinner or wedding.
I decided it one time, and I said I'm not
gonna drink alcohol, and that's eliminated
a lot of thinking about drinking.
And so now I don't have to spend
any of my time thinking about it.
I already have that decision.
So compare that to the person who
wakes up every day and decides, "Oh,
am I gonna work out today or not?"
That negotiation time is expensive
and exhausting, and it drains
you before you even do the thing.
So just decide once, same time,
same place, non-negotiable.
I'm gonna show up for
my accountability buddy.
I'm gonna show up to my
personal trainer twice a week.
When it's a rule instead of a daily
debate, you stop burning willpower on the
question, and you save it for the work.
Which leads us to tip seven.
We wanna design the
environment, not the willpower.
Willpower is unreliable.
We can get tired of it, especially
at the end of the long day when we
don't have anything left in the tank.
So instead of leaning on our willpower,
if you set up your environment to do
the heavy lifting for you, in this
example maybe it's laying out my gym
clothes the night before, then that
first step is already halfway done.
If you're trying to not drink or not eat
junk food, don't have it in the house.
If you want to achieve a lot the following
week, set up your week the Friday before.
Time block those
deadlines on the calendar.
Time block those reverse engineering tasks
you have to do to get done with that task.
Set up your world in advance so
that the disciplined choice is the
easy, obvious one, and the tempting
choice is the one that actually
takes the real effort to reach.
And then our final and eighth
tip, shrink the commitment down
to just that first small task.
When a goal feels really big, we freeze
and we don't know where to start.
So we wanna make the entry point almost
something so small that it's silly.
So instead of "I'm gonna go work out
for an hour," or, "I'm gonna walk
10,000 steps," sometimes my goal is
literally just put your sneakers on.
Just put your sneakers
on and get out the door.
Or don't write the whole proposal,
but just open the document and
work on it for 10 minutes, and
put your phone in the other room.
And then what's so cool is that once your
shoes are on, you usually take the walk.
Once you start doing that 10-minute work,
you get in a flow and you finish the task.
So when we look at this, a 10-minute
working block or a 10-minute walk
definitely beats the one-hour perfect
workout that we put off over and over.
So just to bring this home,
discipline is not something that
you're born with or without.
You already have the proof
that you can follow through.
You, just, need to go find it and borrow
it into the area that you're focusing on.
Recapping our eight tips.
Create your own hard deadlines.
Put it on the calendar and work backwards.
Find an accountability buddy,
whether it's a friend, colleague,
or hiring a coach or a mentor.
Extend that discipline and give it,
give that commitment to somebody
else so that you show up for another
person or another reason outside you.
Make it a decision you
only have to decide once.
Don't waste your mental en-
energy going back and forth.
Set your environment up for success,
and create the first small step to
be so tiny you cannot say no to it.
So I hope that helps you.
I want you to try some of these this week.
Let it be your proof
point for the next thing.
If something in here resonated, please
feel free to share it, promote it
write it down, listen to it again.
And just to kinda close this out, I want
everyone to give ourselves some grace too.
We're all just out here doing our best.
I'm pretty sure that this episode is gonna
air on a Wednesday instead of a Tuesday
because I didn't get it done in time,
and, and I give myself grace for that.
Thank you so much for listening
to Prospecting on Purpose.
I hope you enjoyed the episode,
and we'll see you next week.
Thank you so much for listening to
the Prospecting on Purpose podcast.
If you loved what you heard today,
subscribe to the podcast and
please rate and leave a review.
For more info on me or if you'd
like to work together, feel free to
go to my website, sarahmurray.com.
On social media, I'm usually
hanging out @sarahmurraysales.
Thanks again for joining me,
and I'll see you next time.